Institute of Fundraising,
Yorkshire Region
Prospect Research
Finbar Cullen, ResearchPlus
finbar@researchplus.co.uk
www.researchplus.co.uk

10am – 12/12.30
• Trusts
• Companies
• People
• Information that will help you to secure the
support that you need
• NB – you decide what we look at in the last part
of today’s session

• Resources – free and cost
• Techniques
• Where to get help
• You cannot necessarily find the
information [in the time available]
• Know when to stop researching

Online
CDs
DVDs
Books
magazines
…and people

You get to work
help yourselves
• Pen and paper
• Go for a walk

Ask a different person each time
Someone I have talked to today knows:
• Solicitor, stockbroker, financial adviser, accountant
• trustee/correspondent/employee of a grant-making trust
• Someone who works for a major employer (you define)
• A wealthy philanthropist whose interests correspond with
those of my/their charity
• How to find the contact details of at least twenty people
with an estimated personal wealth of £10 million or more
• How to gain access to useful prospect research
resources for free
• No more than two supplementary questions
• Something else that could help me

What have you learnt?
• Was that useful?
• How can you build on what you have
learned
• Do you need to do this differently, prepare
for it?

What do I want to know?
• Trusts
• Companies
• People
• Information that will help you to secure the support that
you need
• Template – how much detail do you need, when?
• Timetable
• Know when to stop

Books
• Chris Carnie “Find the Funds” – DSC/CAF
• Cecilia Hogan – “A Primer for Growing
Nonprofits” - Jones and Bartlett Publishers
• Nancy Eaglesham – “Researching Local
Charities” – DSC (out of print)

Companies
• Interests – business and charitable
– Interests of key people
• Location(s)
• Staff numbers and locations
• Staff fundraising (matched?)
• Contact people
• Likely levels of support

Companies
• Companies House
• Library databases/directories
• Local newspapers/magazines
– NewsCo
• www.insidermedia.com, Yorkshire Business Insider, etc
• Local Authorities, e.g. www.leedsliveitloveit.com
– Leeds “around 100 plcs in the region and over 50
organisations which employ more than 500 people”.
• Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP employs over 650 staff
• DLA Piper global IT team is in Leeds
• Sulzer Pumps (engineering firm), with over 350 employees
• Northern Foods plc has around 11,000 employees nationally,
and has its corporate headquarters in Leeds

York and North Yorkshire Major
Employers – June 2009
• Nestle – York
• Norwich Union (Aviva) – York
• Grampion Country Pork (Vion) – Malton
• Covance – Harrogate
• Portakabin (Shepherd Building Group) - York
• Skipton Building Society & Homeloan Management Ltd – Skipton
• McCain Foods – Scarborough
• Plaxtons – Scarborough
• Card Protection Plan – York
• TSYS – York and Harrogate
• Betty’s & Taylors – Harrogate
• Engage Mutual – Harrogate
• Wolseleys – Knaresborough
• Systagenix – Skipton
• Severfield Reeve Structures – Thirsk
• R & R Ice Cream – Leeming Bar

Libraries
• Public Libraries on the Web
• http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/ac940/web
– Leeds – KnowUK, Who's Who and Who was Who,
Business and Research Library, MINT
– York – NewsUK, Credo Reference (formerly
Xreferplus, company information database in 2010?
– Sheffield - CREDOreference, NewsUK, FAME

Companies
• Digital Look – directors shares, alerts, link for
current annual report, etc
– www.digitallook.com
• Northcote Internet Ltd – annual reports, etc.,
(back to c 2000?)
– www.northcote.co.uk
• SCoRe (Search Company Reports) catalogue –
lists company reports in UK libraries
– www.score.ac.uk

Companies
• Plc company annual reports
– Directors
• Biographies, salaries, shareholdings, (dividends),
incentive shares
• Significant shareholders
– Staff numbers
– Future plans
– Donations

People
People run companies
People can be major donors

People
• MINT/FAME, ICC Plum, etc
• KnowUK
• Who’s Who online
• Who’s Who in Charities
• Online directories of grantmakers
• Charity Commission, Guidestar UK, etc

People
• Name
• Home address, telephone
• Business address, telephone
• Key interests
– Business, philanthropic
• Date of birth, family, commitments
• Wealth
• Who can introduce us?

Trusts
Grant Making Trusts
• What do they fund?
• Who set them up?
• What are the trust’s future plans?

Trusts
• DSC
• Caritasdata
• FunderFinder
• Charity Commission, England & Wales
– www.charitycommission.gov.uk
• Guidestar UK
– http://guidestar.org.uk
• Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
– www.oscr.org.uk
• Isle of Man
– www.gov.im/registries/courts/charities

Trusts
• Interests of the trust, trustees, staff
• Accounts
– Past recipients, amounts, revenue/capital
• Application process
• Future plans
– Anticipated grant levels, etc

Over to you
• Start to research an individual or a
company using the information provided
• Is all of the information relevant?
• What further checks are needed?
• How can we secure support?

What to look for
People
– Name
– Home address, telephone
– Business address, telephone
– Key interests (business, philanthropic)
– Date of birth, family, commitments
– Wealth
– Who can introduce us?
– Anything else?
Company
– Name
– Address, telephone
– Line of business
– Charitable interests
– Possible level of support
– Who can introduce us?
– Anything else?

• Those resources are all freely available
• What other resources do you need?
• Can you access them free? If not, how
much might they cost?

Finding out about resources
• Books mentioned above
– THINK Resource (was fResource)
• www.thinkresource.org
– Fundraising & Prospect Research
• www.fundraisingresearch.info
– ResearchPlus
• www.researchplus.co.uk
– Bentz Whaley Flessner
• www.bwf.com

Books, CD, DVD, online …
• Keep and annotate books (and
CD/DVDs?)
• Online – updated, time limited

Asking for help
• Institute of Fundraising
– Local groups
– Researchers in Fundraising
– Trusts/Statutory Fundraising
• UK Fundraising
– Forum
• LinkedIn

Online discussion groups
• Prospect Research UK
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/prospect-research-uk/
• UK trust and statutory fundraising (IoF)
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/trust_fundraising/
• Corporate Fundraising (IoF)
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/corporate_fundraising/
• Major Gifts Special Interest Group (IoF)
M
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/mgsig/

What have I missed out?
Yorkshire Post – rich lists, top companies, Power and Pay, etc
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
Dalesman – NB ex pats, as well
www.dalesman.co.uk
“Unpublished” grant-making trusts
Factary – New Trust Update, www.factary.com
Invisible Grantmakers - robert.pike@dial.pipex.com
Business email addresses – try list vendors like MarketingFile -
http://marketingfile.com
The Direct Marketing Association www.dma.org.uk lists other suppliers
TweetDeck and TweetBeep are some of the tools that can help you get the
most from Twitter

Thank you
Finbar Cullen, ResearchPlus
finbar@researchplus.co.uk
www.researchplus.co.uk